Boko Haram i
s one of the world’s deadliest jihadist groups. It has killed more than tw
enty thousand people and displaced more than two million in a campaign of
terror that began in Nigeria but has since spread to Chad\, Niger\, and Ca
meroon as well. This is the first book to tell the full story of this West
African affiliate of the Islamic State\, from its beginnings in the early
2000s to its most infamous violence\, including the 2014 kidnapping of 27
6 Nigerian schoolgirls.

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Drawing on sources in Arabic and Hausa\, r
are documents\, propaganda videos\, press reports\, and interviews with ex
perts in Nigeria\, Cameroon\, and Niger\, Alexander Thurston sheds new lig
ht on Boko Haram’s development. He shows that the group\, far from being a
simple or static terrorist organization\, has evolved in its worldview an
d ideology in reaction to events. Chief among these has been Boko Haram’s
escalating war with the Nigerian state and civilian vigilantes.

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Th
e book closely examines both the behavior and beliefs that are the keys to
understanding Boko Haram. Putting the group’s violence in the context of
the complex religious and political environment of Nigeria and the Lake Ch
ad region\, the book examines how Boko Haram relates to states\, politicia
ns\, Salafis\, Sufis\, Muslim civilians\, and Christians. It also probes B
oko Haram’s international connections\, including its loose former ties to
al-Qaida and its 2015 pledge of allegiance to ISIS.

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An in-depth a
ccount of a group that is menacing Africa’s most populous and richest coun
try\, the book also illuminates the dynamics of civil war in Africa and ji
hadist movements in other parts of the world.

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First published in 2
017.

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Alexander Thurston is visiting assistant pro
fessor of African studies at Georgetown University and the author of Sa
lafism in Nigeria: Islam\, Preaching\, and Politics.